Wearing a face mask reduces the size of the clouds of infectious coronavirus particles created by a cough by up to 23 times, a study has found. Researchers from India calculated how cough clouds evolve as they spread out — and how much various forms of covering can control their spread. The team found that a surgical facemask lowered the cloud volume by seven times compared with without — while an N95 respirator cut the volume 23-fold. According to the team, practices that can lower the distance the cloud travels include wearing face masks, using handkerchiefs and coughing into one's elbow. In their research, however, Professor Bhardwaj and fellow engineer Amit Agrawal set out to determine how these properties change as the cough cloud travels.

Source: Daily Mail October 20, 2020 15:02 UTC